Bill Chen on Trends and Opportunities in Publicly Traded Real Estate

11 snips

Dec 15, 2025

Bill Chen, founder of Rhizome Partners and a seasoned expert in real estate investing, joins to delve into the disconnect between public and private real estate valuations. He highlights recent take-privates of smaller REITs and discusses NAV arbitrage opportunities, explaining why discounts persist in the market. Chen also anticipates a multi-year underbuilding risk in multifamily housing and believes new developments will focus on the Sunbelt due to favorable conditions. His insights on interest rates, dividend resilience, and potential upside are particularly enlightening.

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INSIGHT

Private Buyers Snapping Up Small REITs

Many mid-sized REITs trading below $5bn have been taken private, showing a persistent public-private valuation disconnect.
Bill Chen says about 35–40% of his portfolio was taken out recently, mostly by Blackstone, revealing active arbitrage opportunities.

INSIGHT

Buyers Pay Premiums But Still Capture Value

Takeout premiums on recent deals have often been ~40% to unaffected prices, yet buyers still expect attractive returns.
Bill notes buyers can pay a discount to NAV and still earn mid-teens IRRs because public market discounts are large.

ADVICE

Develop Specialist Expertise And Management Access

Focus on specialist knowledge and relationships to find sub-$2bn REIT bargains that larger managers avoid.
Meet management repeatedly and build conviction because activist-friendly or shareholder-oriented teams are likelier to sell at fair premiums.

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In this episode, co-hosts Elliot Turner and John Mihaljevic welcome back special guest Bill Chen, founder and managing partner of Rhizome Partners, to discuss public equity investing in real estate. Bill shares his thoughts on key trends and opportunities he sees in the sector.

Enjoy the conversation!

The primary purpose of this podcast is to educate and inform. The views, information, or opinions expressed by hosts or guests are their own. Neither this show, nor any of its content should be construed as investment advice or as a recommendation to buy or sell any particular security. Security specific information shared on this podcast should not be relied upon as a basis for your own investment decisions -- be sure to do your own research. The podcast hosts and participants may have a position in the securities mentioned, personally, through sub accounts and/or through separate funds and may change their holdings at any time.

About the Guest:

Bill Chen is the founder and managing partner of Rhizome Partners (2013), Rhizome Real Asset Opportunity Fund (2020), and Rhizome Hard Asset Opportunity Fund (2023). Prior to forming Rhizome Partners in March 2013, Mr. Chen traded and invested his own assets, utilizing strategies that focused on deep value investments and event-driven strategies. From August 2009 until January 2011, he was the Director of Research at New York Global Group, a private equity firm that invested in growth companies in mainland China. From October 2006 to March 2009, Mr. Chen was an Analyst in Citigroup’s real estate investment banking group, a group that focused on M&A transactions of up to $1 billion. From October 2005 until October 2006, Mr. Chen was a mechanical engineer for Bladykas Engineering. Mr. Chen received his B.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University in 2004.

About the Co-Hosts:

Elliot Turner is a co-founder and Managing Partner, CIO at RGA Investment Advisors, LLC. RGA Investment Advisors runs a long-term, low turnover, growth at a reasonable price investment strategy seeking out global opportunities. Elliot focuses on discovering and analyzing long-term, high quality investment opportunities and strategic portfolio management. Prior to joining RGA, Elliot managed portfolios at at AustinWeston Asset Management LLC, Chimera Securities and T3 Capital. Elliot holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation as well as a Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School.. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University where he double majored in Political Science and Philosophy.

John Mihaljevic leads MOI Global and serves as managing editor of The Manual of Ideas. He managed a private partnership, Mihaljevic Partners LP, from 2005-2016. John is a winner of the Value Investors Club’s prize for best investment idea. He is a trained capital allocator, having studied under Yale University Chief Investment Officer David Swensen and served as Research Assistant to Nobel Laureate James Tobin. John holds a BA in Economics, summa cum laude, from Yale and is a CFA charterholder.